Everton dominated both in terms of possession and goalbound chances, with Alex Iwobi spurning a couple of decent chances but the visitors, reduced to ten men following Seamus Coleman’s sending off for two bookable offences, eventually suffered a cruel 1-0 defeat at Burnley.
Burnley claimed a narrow win at Turf Moor but things could have gone differently had Marco Silva’s men not been reduced to ten with over half an hour still to play and had Burnley not kept out Alex Iwobi's two efforts.
Alex Iwobi twice came close to breaking the deadlock – seeing one shot deflect agonisingly wide and another goalbound effort blocked by Burnley defender Matthew Lowton as Everton fans endured a difficult afternoon once again in the Premier League.
The Toffees' boss sympathized with all Evertonians afterwards while revealing his confidence in his players' abilities to turn their poor form around.
“I understand that the fans are disappointed,” Silva said, Soccernet.ng reports.
“But it is a moment for us to go there [to see the fans after the game] to feel their emotion, because they deserve our respect.
“They came here to support the team – all through the 90 minutes they supported the team.
“We didn’t achieve the result they wanted and they deserve something more.
“It is a moment for us to be there with them and hear what they have to say. We have to show our faces when things are not so good.
“We have faith in the players. We have to work with them to improve them.
“I have no doubts in what we are doing. We need results but last season we had a worse moment than this one and how we reacted showed what we are able to do.
“We had a fantastic run towards the end of the season.
“I don’t have doubts we are able to do that again.
“We had so many dangerous moments around the box, we have to decide in a different way.
“To win these type of games we have to be more clinical and assertive with our front attack players. We have quality to do more.
“Analysing the game, it is clear we deserved more than what we achieved.
“In the first half, it is clear we were the best team on the pitch, we created the best chances. We were always more dangerous than our opponent.
“The second half started the same way. But the second yellow [for Coleman] made a big impact on the game in my opinion. It looked a harsh decision but we have to respect the referee’s decision.
“Even after that period there was not big chances for our opponent. They had more set-pieces, as you would expect playing against 10 men, and from one set-piece they scored.
“For us to achieve confidence, we have to get results.
“We have to stick together, work harder and be more brave.”
